“It was an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and value of embracing a regenerative approach to address and contrast the economic, social and environmental crisis that we face, globally”, Associate Professor Magda Minguzzi (left) said.
Prof Minguzzi is the Director of the newly formed Indigenous Knowledge System of the Built Environment Unit (IKSBEU), based in Nelson Mandela University’s School of Architecture, which hosted this seminar.
“Additionally, this seminar served as a theoretical introduction to a practical workshop on how to build a Matjieshut, which will take place in September at the School of Architecture, organised in partnership the Ghonaqua Peoples”.
Some 200 international First Nations Peoples, Leaders of the KhoiSan Peoples, experts, academics and students, attended the seminar themed “Indigenous Knowledge Systems of the Built Environment: lessons for a regenerative future” in the School of Architecture Main Hall.
The research shared also showed the many similarities among the IKS applied across the globe.
Mandela University colleagues from the Unit who assisted in the organisation of the seminar were Nii Botchway, Lucy Vosloo, Kim Harmse, Kawthar Jeewa and Mpumzi Mbulawa.
Speakers and their contributions
Professor Maddalena Achenza
The seminar started with Professor Maddalena Achenza, from the University of Cagliari, Italy, who explored the meaning and application of sustainability, highlighting how lessons from vernacular heritage can inform contemporary architecture.
Prof Achenza is President of the ICOMOS-ISCEAH and UNESCO UNITWIN Chair on Earthen Architecture and Sustainable Development and leads various international research projects on earthen and traditional architecture.
Professor Juliana Prpic-Kaya
Professor Juliana Prpic-Kaya (right) from the University of Melbourne spoke about “What is regenerative design, and why is it important?”
Drawing from her role specifically within Indigenous Engineering Learning and Engagement, Prof Prpic-Kaya spoke on her extensive, community-based research with the First Nations peoples in Australia and the importance of a regenerative design through her work.
Since 2014, her work has focused on fostering partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to design and develop collaborative programmes, that promote equity, embed Indigenous Knowledge into engineering education, and support community-driven research.
Her collaboration with the Gunditjmara community, has earned various accolades, including the University of Melbourne Award for Excellence in Place-based Initiatives and the 2023 Engagement Australia Excellence Award in Indigenous Engagement. She also works alongside the Mparntwe people to support the regeneration of the sacred site Ankerre Ankerre.
Susan Beetson
Susan Beetson (above), a member of the Ngemba Wayilwan People of New South Wales, Australia, is a lecturer and researcher at The University of Queensland and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures.
Her work centres on the Ngemba Goondies and Gunyas in the vernacular, drawing from Observations of Nature. She shared vital indigenous reflections and observations on Mother Earth’s cycles and elements, wisdom based on regeneration, responsiveness to climate, and seasonal shifts, to best adapt to the environment.
Beetson is also an academic and chief investigator at the ARC Indigenous Futures Centre, where her team explores digital rights management to support Traditional Custodians through royalties and the protection of Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property, for long-term economic autonomy.
A Fellow with the Australian Internet Governance Forum, she collaborates with Pacific Islander peoples to establish Indigenous value systems into the frameworks of internet governance, influencing its standards and structures.
Professor Silvia Mazzetto
Silvia Mazzetto, Professor at Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia, and Head of the SALab–Sustainable Architecture Lab, has contributed extensively to international experience through EU-funded research, publications, and consultancy across Europe and the Gulf. Her contribution was about, “Vernacular Wisdom from the Najd: Regenerative Lessons from Ushaiger and Saudi Arabia’s Heritage,” drew from her study of the Ushaiger Heritage Village as a living model of regenerative preservation and adaptive reuse.
Prof Mazzetto’s research highlights the architectural typologies and material systems, mudbrick, palm, and stone, embedded in Najdi traditions, along with community-based conservation. She situated traditional architecture within a broader ecological and cultural context, emphasising passive design strategies, such as thermal mass, narrow shaded alleys, and natural ventilation. These respond effectively to the harsh desert climate but also promotes social cohesion and resource efficiency.
Dr Anita Venter
Dr Anita Venter, from the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State, shared her art-based research in “Imagining Regeneration: Art, Wisdom, and the Emergence of Post-Natural Futures.” Her work explores how creative methodologies drawing from indigenous knowledge systems of the built environment, can act as catalysts for both social and ecological regeneration.
Dr Venter’s shared three South African case studies,‘What Remains through Time’ (museum), ‘Radiant Walls’ (youth arts centre) and ‘Meraka to Meraka’ (cultural village), demonstrating how clay, glass, waste and song, become collaborators in re-building place, transmitting heritage and envisioning post-natural futures.
Dr Andrew Hall
Dr Andrew Hall, a South African currently based at the Heritage Development Department of the Royal Commission for AlUla, Saudi Arabia, presented his research “The |Haru Oms (Matjieshut) – Understanding its History, Evolution and System of Construction.”
His contribution was particularly relevant illustrating the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) applied in the building a Matjieshut, providing crucial background for Mandela University students ahead of the hands-on workshop organised by the IKSBE UNIT for September 2025.
A former CEO of SAHRA and Heritage Western Cape, Dr Hall has been Vice-President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS); served on various UNESCO panels and working groups; and contributed to drafting heritage policy and legislation in South Africa and internationally.
These included the Richtersveld World Heritage Site and the ǂKhomani San cultural landscape nomination. Currently leading a major heritage project in the Middle East, he also led the working group that drafted the 2024 ICOMOS Charter and Guidelines for Sites with Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Chief Jean Burgess
The seminar concluded with Chief Jean Burgess (left) of the Ghonaqua Peoples. She spoke about the importance of these types of sharing and learning experiences, especially when integrating the voices of Indigenous Peoples.
Her contribution raised a crucial question: Why the Indigenous Peoples are represented by non-indigenous people? Why is the academic world not respecting the IKS?
“Many of us would love the opportunity to learn from Chief Burgess again”, the students remarked, when emphasising the privilege for them to attend the seminar.
Indigenous Knowledge System of the Built Environment Unit-IKSBEU
For info: Magda.minguzzi@mandela.ac.za